Decision : 34 COM 7A.15
Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) (N 1 bis)

3. Commends the State Party for progress made in the implementation of several of the corrective measures adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 31st session (Christchurch, 2007) and included in the Action Plan produced in response to the Presidential Decree No. 270;

4. Acknowledges the reception of the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, and requests IUCN and the World Heritage Centre to work with the State Parity to finalize this, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session in 2011;

5. Notes with concern the continued threats to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, arising primarily from the uncompleted work in terms of securing of the biosecurity chain of inspection and control, the continued lack of effective response to rapid and uncontrolled tourism related development, and the renewed evidence that the management authority cannot effectively deal with important challenges to the integrity of the national park and marine reserve;

6. Urges the State Party to continue to strengthen its efforts to implement all of the corrective measures established for the property, in particular:

a) Completing the biosecurity chain of inspection and control by establishing the latest facilities at a single Guayaquil cargo loading dock, by committing to replacing the current aging and mal-adapted cargo ships with new ships designed to facilitate the application of biosecurity measures, and by considering Baltra as the only point authorized to receive cargo from the continent,

b) Developing and implementing a clear tourism strategy for Galapagos, with a focus on establishing mechanisms to discourage rapid and uncontrolled growth in visitation and with a careful assessment of the desirability and feasibility of authorizing sports fishing in the islands, the State Party being encouraged to consider the feasibility of temporarily limiting the number of visitors to the islands while such policies are developed and implemented,

c) Strengthening the Galapagos National Park Service's capacity to deal effectively with challenges to its mandate;

7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2011, a report on the state of conservation of the property, with emphasis on the corrective measures identified in its 15-point Action Plan, including a focus on items described in Paragraph 6 above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session in 2011, and illustrating how corrective measures are contributing to addressing the requirements linked to the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value;

8. Decides to remove the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) from the List of World Heritage in Danger and further requests the World Heritage Centre to continue to cooperate with the State Party to follow up and assess the progress on the implementation of the recommendations contained in Paragraph 6 above, in line with the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value proposed by the State Party.